When Wayne was a Whippersnapper: Gish tobacco farm

MILTON TWP. -- Few present-day Wayne County residents have any idea of the great extent to which tobacco farming was carried on within its borders, and particularly in Milton and Chippewa townships.

Many of the early families that settled here came from southeast Pennsylvania where tobacco was a major crop, and they brought the knowledge of its cultivation along with them. And up until shortly before World War II, tobacco was grown here extensively, as evidenced by tobacco harvesting, drying and processing equipment that is still occasionally found in old barns.

Probably the most successful tobacco operation within the borders of Wayne County was run by Jacob Gish and his sons on their Gish Road farm at the edge of present-day Rittman. They created a valuable cash crop not only for themselves in the late 19th century, but for other farmers in the Chippewa Valley and nearby Styx Valley as well.

Gish, a Swiss Mennonite, was born and raised in Lancaster County, Pa. After marrying Fannie Shank in 1830, the couple moved to Milton Township in 1831, purchasing the 116-acre northeast quarter of section 1 from a land speculator for $510. The farm was ideally suited for tobacco raising, and in a short time Gish was a major grower.

Jacob Gish lived in the log house he had built along the State Road to Doylestown (East Sunset Drive) until 1859, when he aspired to a finer home. A highly skilled cabinetmaker, Gish constructed a stylish Greek Revival style house, harvesting lumber from his own woods. However, he lived in his new "homestead" only four years, dying in 1864. Today that house is operated as a museum by the Rittman Historical Society.

The tobacco operation was taken over by Jacob's son, John. During the Civil War, with the supply of Southern tobacco cut off, the Gish family greatly expanded its plantings and John Gish became a wholesaler for a number of smaller tobacco farmers in the vicinity.

With the family doing well financially, both John and his younger brother Abraham built brick mansions which survive today as outstanding examples of Gay '90s Carpenter Gothic architecture. Also in the 1890s the family constructed a huge tobacco barn, a steam curing oven and an office across from the homestead. At this facility John bought tobacco, adding it to his own to be steamed, baled and shipped to cigar factories in Sterling, Medina and Cleveland.

The tobacco business began a slow decline shortly before World War I as the milder white burley, requiring a longer growing season than Wayne County had, became the choice tobacco for cigarettes. The Gish family then returned to mixed crops and dairying, and over time its members drifted away to other farms in other areas.

Source: "Arise Wild Land" by Lindsey Williams

Sunday: West Lebanon once a medical bastion

Reporter Paul Locher can be reached at 330-682-2055 or email plocher@the-daily-record.com.